SHORTER ODDS ON WALKER REPEAT

By Bill Gardner
Heddon had drawn five and lost three of their last eight league games but finally came good by beating hosts Newcastle University 1-0 and avenging an earlier defeat by the Students. It was a close thing however and Joe Kerry scored Heddon’s winner in the second minute of stoppage time.

Gillford Park, still in pole position, dropped crucial championship points when hosts Murton – at the opposite end of the table – restricted them to a goal-less draw. The result was welcomed by Walker Central who are now only three points behind Gillford with two games in hand.

Defending champions Walker helped themselves by beating fourth-placed Harraby Catholic Club 2-1 at Monkchester to retain their unbeaten home record. All the goals were scored in the opening half and John Campbell opened the scoring for Walker on the half hour mark with a great drive from the edge of the box.

Within another three minutes Campbell claimed his second goal to increase his side’s lead, aided by the strength of Ian Dunn when he met a cross from Michael Lamb. However, Harraby soon pulled a goal back and a mix-up in the home defence allowed Roy Holliday to unleash a shot which keeper Chris Bannon took the sting out of but the ball still managed to cross the line.

Alnwick Town have dropped out of the reckoning in the title race and lost 3-0 away to Blyth Town who are proving difficult to beat on their own patch. Chris Taylor opened the scoring midway through the first half during a goalmouth scramble.

Blyth’s lead wasn’t doubled until six minutes after the break and Jonathan Mann fired into the bottom corner when his chance was set up by Danny Beresford. And in the 59th minute the hosts added to their tally when Mark Waugh’s lofted ball into the area eluded everyone to find its way into the net. And the Blyth lads were looking forward to a big date this Friday, 17th April. As holders, they will be taking on league colleagues Percy Main in the Northumberland FA Senior Bowl Final at Whitley Park kicking off at 7-00 p.m.

Shankhouse leapfrogged over Alnwick into fifth spot but failed in their bid to make it five wins on the trot. At Northburn they drew 2-2 with Ponteland United who were pleased to salvage a point.

With former player Darren Naylor giving the Pont defence a torrid time a Shankhouse opener was always on the cards and after only 12 minutes when an unmarked Anthony Moran headed home from a corner kick. And three minutes later Shankhouse doubled their advantage from another set piece as Martin Bell’s free kick was headed in by Andy Sherlaw.

Ponteland hit back shortly after the change-over and Liam McIvor reduced the arrears who controlled a chipped pass from Phil Groom before slipping the ball past Shankhouse keeper Dave Dent. This goal gave Pont some added belief but suffered a blow when captain Craig Brown limped off injured. However United remained in good shape and in the 65th minute they got their deserved equaliser as a fine cross from Andrew Davidson gave Scott Fenwick his chance to head home at the back post.

There were changes in the bottom-of-the-table pecking order and Ashington Colliers and Cramlington Town both claimed rare victories to ease their fears of relegation.

Ashington ended a long lean spell with an impressive 2-0 success at home to Carlisle City to end a successful run by the Cumbrians. The Colliers secured the vital points with goals in each half claimed by Glen Bolton and Anthony Wright.

Cramlington took a leaf out of Ashington’s book and completed a league double with a 4-1 win against visitors Peterlee Town. David Atkinson and Stewart Hepple were on target early on for Cramlington and after Jonathan Monaghan hit back for the Newtowners a second half brace bagged by David Dormand proved decisive for the hosts.

Heaton Stannington extended an unbeaten run to five games with a 2-2 draw at Wark where their goals came from Kevin Carr and Aaron Jewell. Marc Nixon scored both goals for Wark.

DIVISION ONE – CULLERCOATS SUFFER ON TWO FRONTS
Cullercoats had a disappointing week in the First Division starting with a 6-2 defeat away to Gosforth Bohemian Garnett. And this set-back for their promotion hopes was followed by their 3-2 defeat by visitors Whitley Bay ‘A’ in the semi-finals of the Pin Point Recruitment Combination Cup. Steve Hart’s two goals for Cullercoats weren’t enough and the Bay booked their place in the final with goals shared by Chris Reid, Michael McMullen and Ian Lee.

Whitley Bay’s opponents in the forthcoming Combination Cup Final will be Red Row Welfare who, after a goal-less league draw at home to Berwick United in midweek, belied their league ranking to beat semi-final visitors Wallington 2-1. Lee Isbister claimed both of the Welfare’s goals with Peter Southern replying for the disappointed losers.

Stocksfield are still five points clear at the head of the table but showed their vulnerability in a goal-less draw away to Hebburn Reyrolle. But Percy Main had a great week and two victories took them into second spot although they may have left their charge too late.

Goals for Pierre Coiffait, Jason Ritchie and Joe Betts earned the Villagers a 3-1 midweek verdict against Newcastle East End at Purvis Park. And three days later the Main won 2-0 away to Gosforth Bohemian Garnett to extend their successful run. Their goals this time were tucked away in the second half by Jon McEnaney and Sean Potts.

Whitley Bay ‘A’ remained in third place, still in with a good chance of winning promotion and they have a game in hand of Percy Main. The other promotion contenders appear to be Killingworth YPC but they suffered a setback and shed two vital points on their visit to Northbank. In the resulting 2-2 draw Dave Glendinning and Mark Graham netted for the Cumbrians with Killy’s replies coming from Liam Callaghan and Peter Mulholland.

Newcastle East End bounced back promptly following their defeat at Percy Main and beat Saturday’s lowly visitors Berwick United 2-1 with goals by Paul Bright and Gary Dixon outweighing a Simon Hargreaves strike for the Borderers. And Chopwell Officials, rapidly running out of games, were 3-1 victors away to Seaton Burn. The Chopwell marksmen were Dave Fitzpatrick, Graham Clark and Rowland Lee before Dave Hewitt replied for the Burn who are still in danger of being relegated along with Red Row Welfare.

DIVISION TWO – FOREST HALL MAKE SEASIDERS SICK
Last Tuesday night at Hillheads, Forest Hall lifted the Pin Point Recruitment Amateur Cup by beating promotion seekers Amble United 3-2. Ross Gair bagged both of United’s goals but their cause was hit by a sending off late in the first half. Thanks to Michael Reay’s hat-trick Forest Hall claimed the silverware and Reay has now scored 28 goals in all competitions so far in this campaign.

Amble United’s cup final defeat was followed on Saturday by another blow and the second-placed Seasiders could only manage a 2-2 draw in the league away to North Shields Athletic. It took a strike by Darren Riddell to cancel out Glen Churchman’s goal for the home side.

Although Amble United have a game in hand they are now trailing five points behind current leaders South Shields United who are showing no signs of easing up. They’ve made a habit of winning and added three more points to their championship chest with a 3-0 victory away to Newcastle BT. Although a weakened BT outfit battled hard they were sunk by goals supplied by Tijan Kah and Kyle Yorston in the first half and Phil Ormond after the break.

South Shields and Amble United are now locked in an exclusive battle for the title with the Shieldsmen apparently holding all the aces. No other sides are within striking range barring a severe dip in form for the pace-setters and the likes of Wideopen & District, Forest Hall and Willington Quay Saints may be only vying for an ultimate third spot.

Willington Quay entertained Wideopen last Saturday and emerged as 3-0 victors thanks to strikes by Glen Gallon (2) and Mark Henderson. And Forest Hall followed up their midweek Combination Cup triumph with a 3-3 draw away to Stobswood Welfare. The Welfare had beaten hosts Amble FC 4-1 three days earlier when their goals were shared by Michael Hogg, Josh Hay, Matthew Graham and David King. But against Forest Hall hits by Hay, Kerry Shotton and Dave Farrell weren’t quite enough and the Hall grabbed a share of the spoils with replies from Michael Reay (2) and Michael Kennedy.

On the bottom rung in the Second Division and still seeking their first league win, Tynemouth United are suffering from a single goal defeat syndrome and they suffered two such set-backs last week. First they were beaten 2-1 by hosts Wallsend Town and then went down to a late Ben Harding goal for visitors Whitley Bay Town.

Amble FC however took a step towards safety after losing to Stobswood and they beat visitors Hexham 2-0 to move up to fourth from bottom. John Charlton scored his first goal for the cub to open Amble’s account and Adam Shanks later doubled their lead later on.